ACLU seeking information about use of military weapons by local police forces

View full sizeAn Allentown police officer investigating a domestic violence incident in the first block of Third Street in September 2012.Express-Times File Photo

The American Civil Liberties Union is launching a nationwide investigation into the use of military weapons and technology by local law enforcement departments.

The group has filed requests for information from 255 police agencies in 22 states, including the Allentown Emergency Response Team and the Lehigh County Municipal Emergency Response Team.

ACLU officials say they made the requests not based on specific concerns from those particular departments but simply to get a broad sense of how these weapons are being used around the nation.

"Equipping state and local law enforcement with military weapons and vehicles, military tactical training and actual military assistance to conduct traditional law enforcement erodes civil liberties and encourages increasingly aggressive policing," said Kara Dansky, senior counsel for ACLU's Center for Justice.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said the city and county emergency teams are only used in certain rare circumstances, and their training and equipment promote safety for both the officers and the civilian population.

Jim Martin

"Why that would be considered aggressive policing, I have no idea," Martin said. "It's not just 'bang the door down and shoot everyone in sight.' That's not what it's all about."

The Lehigh County and Allentown teams are deployed for high-risk situations or emergencies that require special tactics or communications, like hostage situations or a barricaded gunman.

ACLU officials fear the use of such weapons will lead to a militarization of local police that disproportionately affects poorer communities or communities filled with minority groups.

"With military weapons, it's not your friendly neighborhood cop walking down the street and getting to know all the store owners," ACLU attorney Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz said.

"It's men in riot gear with guns and tanks, in some cases, so it contributes to a huge amount of fear among the communities and the police," she said.

The ACLU filed public information requests seeking information about the use of SWAT teams, including the number and purpose of deployments, types of weapons used and number of injuries suffered by civilians.

They also are seeking information about technologies like GPS tracking devices, drones, military vehicles and handcuffs that can deliver electric shocks to prisoners.

"We're not trying to demonize these police forces in any way, but just learn more information about the militarization efforts being used," Morgan-Kurtz said.

Martin said he has not reviewed the public information request but that some law enforcement information is protected under Right To Know laws.

For example, Martin said he would not be required to provide information that could jeopardize ongoing investigations or certain training activities.

The Right to Know law requires a response to information requests within five days, but agencies may seek a 30-day extension. Morgan-Kurtz does not expect the ACLU to receive the information for at least one month.